Our Curriculum Intent

At St. Bede’s, we want our curriculum to encourage and support our children to become the best that they can be.

Developing children’s moral, spiritual, social and cultural understanding sits at the heart of our school curriculum and reflects our Catholic Mission.

In order to do this, our curriculum has three aspirational aims:

• to become responsible citizens
• to have a purposeful life
• to be happy and healthy

Responsible Citizens

As responsible citizens, we want to equip the children with knowledge and understanding about what is happening not only in their own community but also in the wider world. We also want our children to explore the ways in which they can have a positive impact in the world and on the people around them.

Our school is proud to be in Jarrow and acknowledges its location in many ways. Our curriculum is enriched by using this as a starting point for engaging interest and accessing the rich cultural resources of Jarrow and the North East.  We also embrace the rich and diverse cultural backgrounds of all our children.

Apart of being a responsible citizen is to have a core knowledge of British Values and provide opportunities for children to explore them in further detail and to apply them to both life in school and in their wider community.

 

Purposeful Lives

Our approach to the curriculum secures greater learning involvement, builds on children’s prior knowledge and helps them to develop into creative and confident learners. It is these qualities which we feel are vital for success in learning and leading a purposeful life.

Reading is the key component of our school curriculum. We recognise that both the skill and the enjoyment of reading are pivotal for pupils accessing current and future learning. We aim for all of our pupils to be reading with fluency and with comprehension so they can successfully access the whole National Curriculum.

It is essential that all children and especially those who have a specific learning need are provided with the opportunities and support to improve their skills across the whole of the curriculum.

Happy and Healthy

Physical health and mental well-being are valued and prioritised through our curriculum design. These are taught through a well-planned and structured programme of personal development. We teach the Hexham and Newcastle Catholic RE syllabus Come and See and the RSE TenTen programme, which enriches and supports our pupils’ learning journey.

Our curriculum design intends to equip our pupils to be confident, curious and resilient learners, independent decision-makers, have strong self-belief, a positive self-image and to use all their talents and gifts to be the best that they can be!

 

Curriculum Implementation

We implement our curriculum in a way which enables all our pupils to grow in knowledge, skills and confidence. We do this by implementing and developing key areas of teaching and learning: Understanding the Content, Creating a Supportive Environment, Maximising Opportunities to Learn and Activating Hard Thinking.

Curriculum Delivery and Content:

• The curriculum is compatible with the key requirements of the National Curriculum
• Basic skills teaching is fundamental to improving the life chances of all pupils
• Early years provision provides a sensitive balance of child-initiated and adult-led learning using continuous play and small group activities
• Throughout Key Stages 1 and 2. Pupils receive a broad and rich curriculum, taught primarily as discrete subjects or through combining subjects when this is appropriate.
• The curriculum is mapped to demonstrate the component knowledge and techniques needed to retain (residual knowledge), sequenced coherently to support the acquisition of key concepts
• Components are repeated over time, ensuring all pupils practise retrieval
• A language-rich environment is provided in relation to the different tiers of vocabulary, explicit teaching of the word in context is essential
• A rigorous approach to the teaching of reading develops learners’ confidence and enjoyment. Reading materials will be closely matched to learners’ phonics knowledge
• Individual subject disciplines are explicitly taught, ensuring pupils become experts
• Metacognition plays a pivotal role in our teaching sequences
• Subject-specific CPD will be provided to enhance teaching and learning
• Learners are taught to remember long-term content. They will integrate new knowledge into larger concepts. Learning is organised around key enquiry questions
• Teachers are ambitious for their learners and create an environment focused on learning and high expectations.
• Enrichment ensures that learning connects to purpose, context and real-life application

Assessment:

• Accurate assessment procedures are used to maximise progress from their starting points
• Data will be purposeful and used effectively to enhance school and individual provision
• Teachers use ongoing assessment to evaluate the learning of all pupils and ensure that the next steps are specifically planned for at the age expected and greater depth standard

Curriculum Impact

At St. Bede’s, we place Christ at the centre of all that we do and say and in this way, we strive that all our pupils grow as:

Responsible Citizens

To contribute positively to the wider society by developing values and morals that inform choices and actions, which promote respect for the rights of every human person.

Purposeful Lives

To progress in their acquisition of knowledge and development of skills so that they can continue their educational journey.

Happy and Healthy

To flourish as confident and curious learners with well-developed personal, social and learning behaviours which support continuing success in the next stages of their lives.